JR LATE MODEL DRIVERS WIN BIG AT MADERA SPEEDWAY

(August 3, 2020 from Madera Speedway PR) – Madera Speedway has been the scene for many innovations in motorsports over the 50 year history of the track and one of the latest has been the invention of Jr Late Model racing with the 51FIFTY Jr. Late Model Series on MAVTV, and fans watching last night on ShortTrack TV were treated to another sample of how the young stars from the series are making their mark on the sport. Photo by Jason Wedehase

The August 1st club race was held in accordance with current state, county, and local health guidelines. Race fans cannot attend these events at this time, but Madera Speedway is has invested heavily into a high-quality live stream production that is free to our fans to enjoy thanks to support from Nut Up Industries. Please visit www.nutup.com and place an order today to say thank you and use the code MAVTV20 at checkout for a 20% discount.

The Legends of Kearney Bowl was the opening act for the night with their 15 lap main event that followed opening ceremonies.

Fans from all over the planet tuned into ShortTrack TV to watch the August 1st club race featuring a big line up of racing action led by the hard-hitting Southwest Truck Tour. Austin Edwards is a former winner on MAVTV in the 51FIFTY Jr Late Model Series and he showed his ability to navigate the fastest 1/3 mile in the west and an intense group of drivers in the first 30 lap main event of the twin races. Edwards won the first main of the Southwest Trucks followed by Ronnie Davis and Brent Adams for the top three.

Kyle Keller is another rising star that currently competes in the 51FIFTY Jr Late Model Series and Kyle has been with the series from the early days. The Madera Late Models features a group of drivers competing for a championship in the club series as well as MAVTV drivers that venture in for a race or two here and there to tune up for the nationwide coverage on television.

Keller found some speed over the weekend using the club race as a tune up for TV but he had to battle a hard charging Shelden Cooper and Loren Kutz that also found some speed over the weekend. Speaking of speed, the trio ran lap times that would have firmly placed them into the upper dozen cars in the Nut Up Pro Late Model MAVTV series.

Kutz charged past Cooper for second with just a handful of laps remaining and then a caution came out setting up a front row battle between young Kyle Keller and the hard charging veteran Loren Kutz with Cooper, Del McIntosh, Lilly Mead, Trevor Schlundt, Mike Shapiro, Howard Holden, Hailie Liles, and Jon Schlundt all lurking right behind them ready to jump if the opportunity came up.

Keller took the bottom on the restart and as he hit the throttle in the start box Loren Kutz responded with a big move on the gas peddle but smoked his tires and that set up a battle for second place with Kutz and Cooper as Keller drove off into the sunset towards victory lane.

Keller won the 40 lap feature followed by Cooper, Kutz, McIntosh, Mead, Schlundt, Shapiro, Holden, Liles and Jon Schlundt for the top ten in the Madera Late Model Club race.

Dennis Saunders picked up a Hobby Stock win back in June and he put on a show battling with Tyler Rodgers and Manny Gonzales Jr, with new comers Don Mead and Brian Childers running behind them. But they all had a big problem as they were chasing a Herzog that led the entire race. It wasn’t third generation Austin Herzog, and it wasn’t second generation Bryan Herzog, it was the original championship winning Herzog, Richard Herzog. Rodgers looked as though he was going to challenge Herzog for the top spot until a steering part failed causing him to drop back from leader. Richard won the race followed by Dennis Saunders and Manny Gonzales making up the top three.

Up Next it was time for the CVMS mini stocks and this is one of the groups that always has the most fun at any track they visit. Brothers Baronian battled each other for the win with a full pack of hard charging drivers fighting for the last spot on the podium. When the checkers flew it was Rod Baronian that used a three-wide move in lapped traffic to escape the pressure from his bother to secure the victory. Greg Baronian came home second followed by Steven Brown rounding out the top three.

Shaun Reynolds battled past his brother Ryan and Smokin Dirt Bert Stephens for the victory in the MST class and Andrew Parr won the Toyota Sedan race.

The Southwest Tour Truck Series returned for their second thirty lap main event and all but just one truck started the second main which was pretty amazing considering they tore the tailgates off just about every truck in the first main.

The truck drivers picked up right where they left off with their hard charging brand of racing and it was Ricky Bogart that established himself as the leader and he commanded the lead for the majority of the race until young Austin Edwards ran Bogart down setting up a battle for the win with a handful of laps remaining in the 30 lap event. Bogart had lost his breaks midway through the race causing him to lift early in the turns to hold the bottom while Edwards was charging into the corners. This turned out to be a bad combination as Edwards got into the back of Bogart turning him around in turn three causing a caution to fly sending both drivers to the rear of the field.

On the restart with just four laps remaining it was seventeen year old Parker Jones on the pole with Ed Cutler outside setting up a sprint to the checkers. The green flag flew and the action was intense as Bogart and Edwards came forward while Jones held off Cutler. When the twin checkers went into the air on the final lap is was Parker picking up his first victory at Madera followed by Bogart, Cutler, Edwards and Youngren making up the top five.

The Nut Up Pro Late Models and 51FIFTY Jr. Late Models will return to action on August 8th for round number four of the nine race championship. The events will be streamed live to Short Track TV on YouTube as we are filming the MAVTV production, free of charge thanks to Nut Up Industries.

For information about Madera Speedway, visit www.RaceMadera.com The 2020 season would not be possible without the support of Nut Up Industries, 51FIFTY, Race 2B Drug Free, Competition Carburetion, Hoosier Tires, Franks Radio and Sunoco Race Fuel.

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